Published 8:15 pm, Thursday, July 25, 2013

Why President Barack Obama wanted to get out of D.C. to talk about the economy is not hard to decipher. The Capitol is ground zero of GOP obstructionists.

So Obama left the naysayers behind and pledged to spend the rest of his time in office fighting to improve the lives of the middle class. He did so with gusto on two college campuses, in his home state of Illinois, and at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.

His template is consistent, and positive: access to quality education through college, infrastructure upgrades, good jobs, home ownership, secure retirements and affordable health care.

Before his jet even left the tarmac, GOP leaders lambasted the president for leaving, saying he should be lobbying lawmakers instead. Republicans have no intention of being lobbied by this president. They are threatening to shut down government with no budget by Oct. 1, followed by another debt ceiling showdown.

The president hopes public support will help force Congress into meaningful compromises.

Budget disagreements are immense. The GOP House budget plans take a meat cleaver, as Obama said, to his efforts to improve the odds for the middle class, protect the environment and create more secure jobs.

In part, Obama used his Show-Me State visit to repeat his call for the GOP to show the nation specifics of their alternatives. And he promised to listen.

"If Washington will just shake off its complacency and set aside the kind of slash-and-burn partisanship we've seen these past few years — our economy will be stronger a year from now," Obama said.

He sounds again like the candidate America elected twice, energized and focused. The onus now shifts to the GOP to see whether it can conjure an alternative positive vision.